The Art of Welcoming a New Year, One Bloom at a Time

When life gives you flowers, you make an arrangement. When it’s Lunar New Year, you make it radiant with meaning, colour, and celebration.

We welcomed the new year with our first Social House gathering, a morning designed to slow down, create beauty, and share good food. For this special edition, we partnered with a Vancouver florist whose work embodies storytelling through blooms.

Jasmine, founder of For Flora, leads a Vancouver-based floral studio known for weddings and thoughtfully designed events. Her artistry lies in the way she layers symbolism, texture, and movement into every arrangement. She was the perfect designer to guide our Petals, Pastry, & Prosperity Floral Workshop, bringing both intention and creativity to the table.

To complement the floral experience, I reached out to Betty at Beaucoup Bakery, a beloved Vancouver bakery long admired for its refined French pastries and seasonal creations. Their Dunsmuir location felt like the perfect setting. Beaucoup has a way of making each season feel special, and their Lunar New Year offerings added an extra sense of occasion. When Betty said yes, the collaboration felt like a small dream realized.

On the workshop tables, Jasmine laid out an abundant selection of florals and foliage. Song of India leaves stood tall and vibrant, symbolizing growth and resilience. Red Mokara orchids added striking colour and represented good fortune while warding off negative energy. Locally grown tulips spoke of renewal and fresh beginnings. Each arrangement was placed in a gold vase, a nod to wealth, prosperity, and abundance. To complete the design, guests tied red Chinese knots around their arrangements, adding a final touch rich in tradition and meaning.

As guests shaped their arrangements, pastries began to circulate from this celebrated Vancouver bakery. The Lunar New Year menu included a Nian Gao Pop Tart, Golden Garlic Shrimp Croissant, Kabocha Croissant Egg Tart, and Pork Floss Scallion Croissant. Each bite felt both nostalgic and unexpected, with buttery layers and savoury sweetness in harmonious balance.

We paired the pastries with Beaucoup’s signature drinks. Favourites quickly emerged: the Parisian Fog, a fragrant blend of oolong and Earl Grey, and the deeply comforting Hojicha Latte. There was also a Pandan & Durian Cake on offer, which we decided might be too adventurous for a workshop setting (if you know what I mean). After the event, Jasmine, Cynthia, and I shared it as a quiet reward for a morning well spent. It was rich, fragrant, and the durian flavour was prominent but not overpowering - it was absolutely worth the wait!

For guest favours, Cynthia designed custom hand-drawn name pins, each written in gold ink. We also gifted red envelopes containing small tokens to share prosperity and good fortune for the year ahead.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning filled with creativity, community, and thoughtful details. Between arranging flowers, sharing pastries, and celebrating Lunar New Year traditions, we even paused to greet happy birthday to one of our guests, Tanya.

Moments like these remind us that beauty lives in the small rituals: hands arranging blooms, coffee and tea warming cold fingers, and strangers becoming friends around a shared table.

Discover more events at The Social House and sign up for our newsletter!

---